REAL ESTATE: Inland foreclosure filings fall 50%

Foreclosure starts in America have been in retreat mode for 26 months, and foreclosure activities for November fell to the lowest level since December 2006.

But even as that RealtyTrac data pointing to a 71-month low add grist to the view the nation is past the worst of a foreclosure crisis that began when the housing bubble burst, U.S. bank repossessions of property rose 11 percent from October and 5 percent from November 2011.

That is the first year-over-over increase in lender take-backs of distressed property since October 2010.

Foreclosures continue to hobble the U.S. housing market as lenders finally seize properties that started the process a year or two ago â" or longer in some cases, according to RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist.

âWeâre not completely out of the woods when it comes to foreclosure starts,â he said, as lenders adjust to ground rules set in the National Mortgage Settlement and in state legislation, such as the California Homeownerâs Bill of Rights, which takes effect in 2013.

rforeclosure.graphic

California still holds an upper rank as one of the highest foreclosure-ridden states in the nation, with one of every 430 housing units with a filing, but overall filings in the state for November fell 50 percent from the year earlier.

The Inland region had a total of 2,813 filings in San Bernardino County and 3,226 filings in Riverside County in November. Collectively, that level of activity in the region represented 15 percent fewer foreclosure filings in October and 48.5 percent fewer filings from November 2011.

Lenders repossessed 805 homes in San Bernardino and 837 in Riverside counties in November.

Blomquist characterized the overall activity as a 69-month low for the Inland area. âThe last time we saw this level of activity was back in February 2007,â he said, suggesting the drop may be due in part to greater willingness by lenders to do short sales as an alternative to foreclosure.

For the third quarter, short sales are up 31 percent from the year earlier. âThis tells me banks are pre-emptively agreeing to do short sales before they file that notice of default.â

Even so, the region has yet to shake its No. 3 rank among metropolitan regions for foreclosure activity. One out every 248 housing units had a foreclosure filing in November.

Lenders may be preparing for the California Homeownerâs Bill of Rights, which mandates such things as a single point of contact and required courses of action to prevent dual-track foreclosure activity, Blomquist said.

âTypically, when a law like this passes we see, in the short-term, a slowdown followed by a spike in activity,â he said. âIt could be the case here, and lenders are already pulling back while they figure out what they need to do to follow the guidelines.â

Join the conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful
conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments,
we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful,
threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent
or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law,
regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.